https://doi.org/10.4316/CC.2019.02.003 POLISH RESEARCH ON BUKOVINA Krzysztof NOWAK University of Silesia in Katowice Institute of History, Katowice / POLAND E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: The article is dedicated to the presentation of Polish historical, ethnological, linguistic and sociological, generally interdisciplinary scientific research of the Bukovina region, separated from Moldova after 1774. For political reasons, these studies could start as fully professional, after the fall of communism, when obstacles to accessing Romanian and Ukrainian archives and travelling from Poland to both sides of Bukovina disappeared. The article describes the reasons for Poles’ interest in Bukovina, which results from the multiculturalism of the region and the phenomenon of tolerance. The starting point for the research was the Polish minority in Bukovina, which migrated to this region like other ethnic groups after 1774. Currently, the topics best approached by Poles are referring to the dialect of Poles in Bukovina, the culture and identity of the Polish Highlanders in Romanian Bukovina and re-migration from Bukovina in Poland, migration and political history of Poles in Bukovina. The folklore festivals in Jastrowie, Poland and the “Polish Culture Days” in Suceava, Romania also play an important role in the research of Bukovina by Poles. Unfortunately, there is little professional Polish research on problems not related to the Polish minority. Keywords: Polish research, Borderlands, Bukovina, Poles, Historiography, Romania, Ukraine. Rezumat: Cercetări poloneze despre Bucovina. Articolul este dedicat prezentării cercetărilor istorice, etnologice, lingvistice și sociologice poloneze, în general interdisci- plinare, științifice din regiunea Bucovinei, despărțite de Moldova după 1774. Din motive politice, aceste studii ar fi putut începe într-un mod profesionist, după căderea din comunismul, atunci când dispăruseră obstacolele în accesarea arhivelor românești și ucrainene și în călătoria din Polonia către ambele părți ale Bucovinei. Articolul descrie motivele interesului polonezilor pentru Bucovina, care rezultă din multiculturalitatea regiunii și fenomenul de toleranță. Punctul de plecare al cercetării l-a reprezentat minori- tatea poloneză din Bucovina, care a migrat în această regiune, asemenea altor grupuri Copyright © 2019 “Codrul Cosminului”, XXV, 2019, No. 2, p. 287-304. 288 Krzysztof Nowak etnice, după 1774. În prezent, subiectele cele mai bine abordate de polonezi se referă la dialectul polonezilor din Bucovina, cultura și identitatea polonezului muntean din Bucovina română și re-migranții din Bucovina în Polonia, migrația și istoria politică a polonezilor din Bucovina. De asemenea, un rol important în cercetarea Bucovinei de către polonezi îl au festivalurile de folclor din Jastrowie, Polonia și „Zilele Culturii Polone” din Suceava, România. Din păcate, există puține cercetări profesionale poloneze cu privire la problemele care nu au legătură cu minoritatea poloneză. Résumé : Recherches polonaises sur la Bucovine. On dédia l’article ci-joint à la présentation des recherches historiques, ethnologiques, linguistiques et sociologiques polonaises, en général interdisciplinaires scientifiques de la région de la Bucovine, séparée de la Moldavie après 1774. Par raisons politiques, ces études auraient pu commencer de manière professionnelle, après la chute du communisme, lorsque les obstacles concernant l’accès aux archives roumaines et ukrainiennes se sont évanouis et apparut la possibilité de voyager de Pologne vers les deux parties de la Bucovine. L’article ci-joint décrit les motifs de l’intérêt polonais pour la Bucovine, qui résulte de la multi culturalité de la région et le phénomène de tolérance. La minorité polonaise, qui migra dans cette région, semblable aux autres groupes ethniques, après 1774, représenta le point de départ de la recherche ci-jointe. De nos jours, les sujets les mieux abordés par les Polonais font référence au dialecte polonais de la Bucovine, la culture et l’identité du Polonais montagnard de la Bucovine roumaine et les re-migrants de la Bucovine en Pologne, la migration et l’histoire politique des Polonais de la Bucovine. De plus, les festivals de folklore de Jastrowie, Pologne et “Les Jours de la Culture Polonaise” de Suceava, Roumanie jouent un rôle important dans les recherches des Polonais sur la Bucovine. Malheureusement, il y a peu de recherches professionnelles polonaises concernant les problèmes qui n’ont pas liaison avec la minorité polonaise. INTRODUCTION Why Bukovina? Not only in Poland, but in other countries the borderland issue often had and has an emotional dimension, due to its association with the border conflicts. That is why in many publications about these areas, the political and nationality problems dominated. Frequently, it was rather about justifying the historical or ethnographic rights to such a border territory. An example is Upper Silesia, the historical Polish-Czech-German borderland, which in the past was the subject of sharp disputes between Poland, Germany, and the Czech State. It was also reflected in the literature and played a propaganda role. Unfortunately, until 1989 Polish Research on Bukovina 289 most of the historians focused on the study of national, political and border conflicts. However, the borderlands are areas where the geographical, historical and political boundaries meet, and the nations, ethnic groups, cultures, languages, religions collide and penetrate each other. Therefore, the borderlands can be a subject of not only historical but also interdisciplinary research. A diverse view on social, political and cultural processes in the borderlands was proposed in Poland before 1989 by Stanisław Ossowski (1897-1963) and Józef Chlebowczyk (1924- 1985), but many years had to pass before they were appreciated.1 Bukovina was and is also a borderland, a mosaic of languages, cultures, religions, and nationalities. Perhaps in many respects, it is more complicated than Upper Silesia. As it turns out, it is also the subject of research of Polish scientists. Why? Apart from the fact that Bukovina is a beautiful tourist region with painted monasteries unknown in Poland, perhaps the answer to this question lies in its past. Compared to the majority of borderlands in Poland, especially Upper Silesia or former Galicia, there were fewer ethnic conflicts in Bukovina and many researchers and tourists from Poland associate it with tolerance. Also, most Poles live in Poland in national, uniform areas, hence the Bukovina mosaic is still attractive to them. For tourists, it is also like a living open-air museum of the multicultural past, which in Poland ended after World War II, as a result of changing the state borders. For the Polish historians, Bukovina was a part of the former Duchy of Moldova, which from the fourteenth century bordered the Polish Kingdom. Another factor of historical relevance is the interwar Polish-Romanian alliance and the fact that no territorial disputes between these two countries were recorded after 1918. In Bukovina, a Polish minority lives today, some of whose families left for Poland as re-migrants after World War II. This reality also aroused interest, but it was only the fall of communism in 1989 that enabled Poland and Poles to contact this group and Romania in general. Moreover, there were no sharp Polish-German (Upper Silesia) or Polish-Ukrainian (Galicia) conflicts in Bukovina, and this fact was also important for the Polish researchers. Finally, the year 1989 allowed new research on Bukovina without censorship and political problems. Romanian and Ukrainian borders and archives became accessible for the Poles. The possibility for Polish scientists to confront 1 See Stanisław Ossowski, O ojczyźnie i narodzie [About Homeland and Nation], Warszawa, 1984; Józef Chlebowczyk, On small and young nations in Europe. Nation-forming processes in ethnic borderlands in East - Central Europe, Wrocław, 1980. 290 Krzysztof Nowak experiences from border research in Poland could be used in Bukovina. There is also a group of Polish researchers who have Bukovinian roots and study this region because of their sentiments. Of course, the Poles were still mainly interested in the Polish minority in Bukovina. Research groups and students can come to Bukovina without any problems, although the road is long and complicated. It was also important that Poles in Bukovina in the 90s still lived in certain isolation; there was little migration so that their culture was as if preserved. There was also an older generation who remembered the pre-war times. We can say that this was an ideal situation for the research. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS UNTIL 1989 Until 1918, the Poles wrote about Bukovina – mostly about the Polish inhabitants – because this region was close to Galicia, the land that also belonged to Austria after the liquidation of the Polish State by three powers: Russia, Prussia, and Austria, finally in 1795.2 Poles came to Bukovina like many other nationalities from the end of the 18th century. There were three main groups: the first – miners from around Krakow to build a salt mine in Cacica. The second – so-called Czadca (Slovak: Čadca) Highlanders from the Polish-Slovak border, around Cernăuţi and Storojineţ, then near Gura Humorului and Cacica (Poiana Micului, Pleşa, and Soloneţu Nou). The third-wave was represented by the settlers from Galicia, peasants and intelligentsia (engineers, officials, teachers). In total, in Austrian times, it was about